>> announcer: you're watching nbc 4, washington's news leader. now, live in hd, this is news4 at 6:00. he was a husband, a father, a grandfather, killed on his way to work. tonight police are trying to figure out how a bus stop turned into a crime scene a week before christmas. mall madness. hours of waiting turned into pushing and shoving. the hot item these shoppers had to get their hands on. welcome to the broadcast, everybody. first up tonight, a government shutdown averted, for now. and the fight over the payroll tax cut, and long-term jobless benefits gets put off. democrats and republicans

couldn't agree on enough spending cuts to cover a full year of extensions. nbc's brian moore reports. >> reporter: in a rare saturday session, the u.s. senate approved more than $1 trillion in spending bills, including a 60-day extension of the payroll tax cuts. >> on this vote, the ayes are 89, the nays are 10. >> reporter: the vote ensures 60 million americans will not see their paycheck shrink on january 1st. it also sets the stage for an early showdown early next year. >> it would be inexcusable for congress not to extend this middle-class tax cut for the rest of the year. >> reporter: they got an extension of unemployment benefits. >> it was true legislation. because it was compromised. >> reporter: republicans succeeded in pushing the president to say yes or no, to the keystone oil pipeline project within the next 60 days.

>> everybody in washington says they want more american jobs right now. well, here's the single largest shovel-ready project in america. >> reporter: before heading home for the holidays, the senate voted to pay for the past year's natural disasters, and approved a big spending bill to keep the government running through fiscal year 2012. not everyone was happy. >> 15 minutes to consider a document, 1,221 pages long. >> reporter: but the votes close a book on a contentious year for congress. brian moore, nbc news, washington. lawyers for the soldier accused of giving up government secrets to the wikileaks webs e website. bradley's lawyers argued his status as a gay soldier before the end of "don't ask, don't tell" contributed to mental problems. they say he should not have had access to sensitive materials. manning faces life in prison if

he's convicted. he was up early this morning heading to the job he held for nearly 25 years. tonight, though, a dedicated family man is dead after he suddenly became the victim of a violent crash. he waited for the bus at connecticut avenue. darcy spencer joins us live tonight with more on this story. and his grieving family. darcy? >> reporter: aaron, i spoke to his family members, as well as his boss late this afternoon. they all describe him as a very hard-working man. he would get up early every morning to go to work. and that's what he was doing this morning, when the tragedy happened. if you take a look at this tree here behind me in this yard, this is where that out-of-control car finally came to a stop. 59-year-old rolando martinez was struck and killed while on his way to work early this morning. he was standing at a bus stop on veersmill road at 5:00 a.m. not far from home when police say he was hit by this mercury millan.

>> he worked from 5:00 to dark every single day. even saturdays and sundays. >> why did he do that? >> he worked to support his family. >> reporter: police are investigating to see why the mercury left the roadway. traveled up a grassy em bankment and hit grande. the driver identified as 24-year-old tasfay of rockville then slammed into this red toyota pickup parked in a driveway before crashing into a tree in the same yard. grande's family describes him as a loving husband, father and grandfather. he leaves behind a wife of 35 years. >> translator: it's a very big loss that i've had today. >> reporter: he worked at manor country club, reporting to work every day at 6:00 in the morning for the last 25 years. >> very respectful family. all the members love him, you know? he's going to be missed.

he was a great worker. all i can say is, you know, that he will never be replaced. >> reporter: relatives say losing grande a week before christmas makes it even harder. >> it's a time to be happy, you know? i don't know how we're going to do it. but we have to, you know. keep life going. >> reporter: relatives say there were some reports that this car may have been swerving before this crash. montgomery county police say the cause of this incident remains under investigation. the state's attorneys office will decide if any charges are filed, that driver was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. reporting live from wheaton, darcy spencer, news4. aaron, back to you. >> darcy, thank you. we are following some breaking news right now where firefighters are searching for a missing boater after an accident in the chesapeake bay near tidings road and chesapeake

road. the firefighters tell us two people have already been rescued as they continue to search for a third now. have you noticed a smoother ride on north 66? a flyover ramp opened eastbound onto the inner loop of the beltway. you can merge from the right lanes instead of from the left as you're used to. this new ramp is part of the hot lanes project which is expected to be finished next fall. we're now just a week away from christmas eve, and that means a lot of shoppers spent the day out looking for the perfect presents today. retailers referred to today as super saturday. it is historically one of the busiest shopping days of the years. retailers are trying to lure shoppers out of their houses and into the hollywood frenzy. at prince george's, the rush was over a full-priced item. people waited since 1:00 this morning for a chance to grab a

pair of hot new sneakers. the shoes are jordan 8.0s, and the new nike lebron 9 china. as seen on the website there. as this mom found out, the crowd of shoppers became increasingly impatient as the morning wore on. >> we were thinking it was organized, because at 5:00 this morning there was a nice line all the way down the street. it got to 7:00 when they said the doors would open. people just started walking up, thinking, oh, this isn't looking so good. i said, we don't need to do this. >> shoppers didn't get any big discount after waiting in line here. nike lebrons selling for $170, for a sneaker. jordans going for about $150. for a sneaker. still ahead on news4, a battle that's been brewing for at least a decade. the results of a vote that will decide the future of a local neighborhood. and why a santa claus convention seemed to appear on the national mall today.

plus, the first lady gets invited to a party. but get this, the man asking her for a date? not the commander in chief. we'll tell you about that. chuck? better be careful who you're asking out, no doubt about that. feeling like winter, and looking a little like winter as well. there are snowflakes aflying around the area. we'll talk about your saturday night and sunday forecast coming up.

what do you call dozens of santas big and small running around the national mall? pure santaarcy. dressed like santa and spreading a little holiday cheer. for nearly 50 years he's just taking a little off the top. but that comes to an end. harold smith known to his customers and friends known as smitty retired today. he's run the barbershop for the past 48 years. some customers came by today to wish him well. that barbershop will continue, but operating under new owners. stick around. a bold invitation to the marine corps ball. chuck's back to tell us if [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices...

in more ways than ever. and our networks are getting crowded. but if congress frees up more wireless spectrum... we can empower more people to innovate... putting momentum behind our economy.

and we can reduce the deficit... with more than thirty billion dollars paid by america's wireless companies. it's simple -- more spectrum means more freedom. for everyone. laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done. there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes. [ male announcer ] now there's a mileage card that offers special perks on united, like a free checked bag, united club passes, and priority boarding. thanks. ♪ okay. what's your secret? ♪ [ male announcer ] the new united mileageplus explorer card. get it and you're in. you can choose your channel package. ♪ you can choose your own internet speeds. ♪ you can even choose to chat with a live person. ♪ now you can choose to save $35 a month

for fios tv, internet and phone for just $79.99 a month, plus get a $300 verizon visa prepaid card with a 2 year agreement. but hurry, offer ends soon only at verizonfios.com. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. a fight over identification has come to a head in northern virginia, in a 6-1 vote today the alexandria city council approved the plan for a new development in alandria. >> reporter: a rally at city hall on plans for an area that's not quite alexandria and not quite arlington. should it include the existing strip mall shopping center or this proposed retail residential mix? that's what was at stake at today's proceedings. there's a very different set of aesthetics involved.

for those in the community on both sides it goes beyond the skreet skaps. >> this will definitely bring vitality to the community. the built-in environment continues to deteriorate. >> if the condos come and they're paying $2,000 a month or $1,500 a month for rent, what are the other people going to do that's living in the other apartments? >> reporter: the proposal would set aside a handful of units for what they call market rate sale, which is more than many of those there now could afford. there is a consensus the other areas could use rehabilitation and renovation. but they are worried this new development plan would displace too many residents. and there's a bit of mistrust among those who live here now. >> translator: i don't really believe in everything that you are promising. >> reporter: there are other concerns. among them, that the citizens didn't have enough input. but supporters say these changes have been in the works for a decade or more.

over that period, says one support supporter, there's been plenty of input. >> it's been a long time coming. the community has been 100% behind it. >> reporter: others see it differently. >> we're the other people, the low-income people, where are they going to go. it can still be several years before the development comes to fruition. if you go one-on-one with the first lady? what would you ask her? how about a date? she was approached by a young marine from frederick, maryland, as mrs. obama was sorting toys, 20-year-old lance corporal aaron leaks politely asked if she would attend next year's marine corps ball with him. she said she would love to go, but he would have to ask her husband first. you see him there in the video there. there he goes. brave young soul. >> very brave. >> or foolish. >> we'll see if he gets a response. chuck bell here now. and cold today. big change. >> yeah. december.

wintertime has really arrived here today. no doubt about it. the clouds rolled in again later this afternoon. we did get couple sunny breaks. but if you blinked, you missed them. a couple of breaks of sunshine in the afternoon. but the clouds have come back in now. there are snowflakes to be found across the area. doug chemmerer just called in about 15 minutes ago and said, it's snowflakes aflying. i'll show you in just a second. outside, right now, in washington, a cloudy sky out there. and a little bit of a hazy look out there as well. that's precipitation, most of which is light snowflakes, evaporating before it gets down to the ground. not much reaching the ground in washington right now. 40 degrees our current temperature. that gusty northwesterly wind averaging 16 miles per hour. that kept the windchills way down in the 30s most of the day. a very cold feeling day out there. temperatures right now, all well above the freezing mark. but again, it's below freezing up in the clouds. and as a result, snowflakes can live just long enough to get all

the way down to the ground, even with temperatures above freezing around washington. temperatures closer to the freezing mark, in the panhandle of west virginia, weather watcher out there said snowflakes are flying, just enough to cover the ground. but that's up in the panhandle of west virginia. plenty of clouds and passing snowflakes, stuck primarily in the 30s. live doppler, one or two lonesome rain drops now reaching eastern parts of montgomery county, moving out to columbia, maryland, as well. further back out to the west, the high spots of loudon county, up into the panhandle of west virginia, snowflakes flying out there. barely enough to even get the ground white in most places. upstream from that, not much left out there as well. what's coming through here this evening is about all we're going to get. plenty of cold air in place around here. this weather front hanging up just to our north. that will start to lift back to the north, probably late in the day tomorrow. what little bit of light snow we're getting from the clipper

tonight isn't going to add up to much. a cold start to tomorrow morning once again. sunshine comes in tomorrow afternoon. it will be short-lived sunshine. by monday afternoon, the next weather front coming our way, promises more clouds by tuesday and more rain chances tuesday night, early wednesday. so your saturday night forecast, cloudy and cold. light snow and snow flurries mainly from the district northbound into maryland. and westbound out toward the shenandoah valley. tomorrow, clouds in the morning, but clearing up tomorrow afternoon as the sunshine returns. it will stay on the cold and breezy side. highs tomorrow struggling to get up into the low 40s. seven-day forecast here, near 43 tomorrow, near 50 for monday and tuesday. clouds are back tuesday. could have a little rain in here late tuesday night. most of it will be on the day wednesday. cloudy skies break again. maybe a little rain/snow mix next week. tonight on "saturday night live," the annual christmas show. and a homecoming from a former star cast mate. jimmy fallon hosting tonight.

he was a cast member on "snl" for six years before he became the host of late night. he'll be joined by michael boublay whose album has been atop the billboard charts. check it out right here on nbc 4. coming up in sports tonight, it's a d.c. battle between georgetown and american at the verizon center. we're the kent family. stationed at osan air bass, korea. saying merry christmas to our sayin[ male announcer ]to our this...is the network --

a living, breathing intelligence that's helping people rethink how they live. ♪ in here, video games are not confined to screens. ♪ excuse me, hi. my grandfather lived in this village. [ woman speaking italian ] [ male announcer ] in here, everyone speaks the same language. ♪ in here, cars call mechanics before you do. ♪ [ radio chatter, siren wails ] pass me to the patient, please. [ male announcer ] in here, doctors see you before you get to the hospital. no, we didn't pass it. yeah, pull up the map. [ male announcer ] in here, friends leave you messages written in the air. that's it right there. ♪ [ male announcer ] it's the at&t network... a network of possibilities...

and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. ♪

what's up first? >> we're starting with some serious news, but good news overall, which is, of course, always nice to hear when you hear about a guy who is struggling with something serious, like a heart condition. jeff green will miss the entire upcoming nba season, during a routine physical last week doctors detected an aortic aneurysm. good news, green will have surgery next month to completely repair his heart condition and is expected to make a full recovery. he tweeted today, thank you, everyone, for your thoughts and prayers. i'll be back soon, stronger and better than ever, i promise.

here's john thompson iii. >> i've seen the progression from terrified to confident. and that comes with education. that comes with truly understanding what he is going through, and what he has to go through. obviously jeff is a part of who we are. and, you know, he's -- i guess he's as upbeat as anyone can be as it relates to what's going on with him. and we -- our prayers are with him. we anticipate everything will be okay. >> certainly wish jeff green a speedy recovery. 16th ranked hoyas hosting hinkle university. ranked sixth in the nation in scoring. the transfer from vanderbilt, had 16 points. eagles trailed at the break. second half, henry sends a great pass to starks. he finished with a career high 18 points.

a couple of possessions later, the 6'10" center distributing once again. luke underneath. sims had six assists in the game. later, lubbock returns the favor. throws it up to his buddy sims on the alley-oop. this is pretty. sims went for 17 points. georgetown defeats american 81-55. the hoyas have now won seven in a roy, improving to 9-1. elsewhere, virginia tech hosting the campbell university fighting camels. there wasn't much fight in the camels, though. eric green with the steal. other way, and the dunk. green with 12 points and 6 assists. this is a good looking play from green. later, hokies going long distance. eddy drains the three. part of a 15-0 tech run to start the second half. virginia tick wins 85-60. hokies 8 30e on the season. nba now. the wizards are back to work and wearing shiny new uniforms.

unfortunately the new look didn't matter last night against philadelphia. it was still a mess. playing in their first preseason game of the season, wizards just looked sloppy. coach saunders called john wahl's performance, quote, terrible. wearing their new red, white and blue uniforms, playing the first of two preseason games against the 76ers. just loses it here. wahl turned the ball over six times. he tries an alley-oop. one of 20 turnovers in the game. the wizards, however, did have a few highlights. check it out. bottom of your screen, throws it down. take another look. this is impressive. but unfortunately wahl's numbers not very impressive. 3 of 12 from the field and just three assists. good play here in the fourth from the rookies. second-round pick sheldon mack drives, lobs it up to the third-round pick. wizards struggled overall, shooting 33% for the game. but that's a good looking play,

though. at least you have hope. positivity here. williams knocks down the jumper. he scored 19 points och the bench. wizards lose by 25. 103-78. here's an unhappy head coach. >> i was disappointed with our main guys. i mean, they were -- they got their [ bleep ] kicked out there. i told them how hard we played in practice for this six or seven days, how we competed, you know, that didn't translate over. >> that performance we had tonight wasn't even close to none of the performance we had in training here. there was no effort. there was no passion. it was like -- guys were just out there just to be out there. >> maybe they'll have redemption on tuesday in philadelphia. then it's the season opener at home against new jersey on december 26th. so they better get the ship going in the right direction quick. because this season -- they

better get it together very quickly. tonight the capitals in colorado, taking on the avalanche at 9:00. this is a family show. >> sometimes you've got to put it out there for what it is. >> i hear you. >> basketball caught everybody offguard. >> i think so. there's a lockout, and everybody's kind of like surprised they're back playing. at least the jerseys looked good. i liked the jerseys. looking good. >> they've been playing basketball since they were 5, they forgot how. "nightly news" is up next.